Burnet CISD looks at state waiver for third weather day
FROM STAFF REPORTS
BURNET — While Burnet school officials had planned for two bad weather days, a third one snuck up on them forcing the district to consider asking the state for a waiver.
Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Keith McBurnett stated in a news release that two of the bad weather days will be made up on Feb. 17 and April 18 as scheduled in the district’s adopted yearly calendar.
April 18 is Good Friday.
The school calendar doesn’t include a third bad weather make-up day, so officials had a couple of options to consider; pick another vacation day to utilize or go to the state for a waiver.
McBurnett said the district is going with the latter.
“To address the third day, the district has applied for a missed instructional day waiver with the Texas Education Agency,” he stated.
BCISD has missed three days due to inclement weather. The third day was Feb. 7.
While some portions of the school district may not have received much bad weather, McBurnett said officials must look at the entire geographic area which encompasses most of northern Burnet County.
“I realize how disruptive late starts and school cancellations can be to our family and community, but our first priority as a district is student and staff safety,” he stated. “We transport about 1,400 students to school every day on school buses over an area of 700 square miles. That is why school is sometimes canceled; even if it appears ‘fine’ in one part of the district, it can be iced in another part.”
Burnet school officials are on the roads around 3 a.m. checking conditions on days when inclement weather is anticipated. They also consult law enforcement and state officials during those times as well.
“Sometimes, like this last weather event (Feb. 7), we have to make the decision to close school based on weather forecasts rather than on actual road conditions at the time of the decision,” McBurnett added. “Because our first bus begins its route at 5:15 a.m., we have to make the decision about school closure or delay by 5 a.m.”
To learn more about the district’s school closure procedure go to www.burnet.txed.net and click on the “Bad Weather/School Closure Plan” button on menu located on the left side of the site.
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